1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a video data communication system and method in which video data is transmitted between devices connected to a data bus according to a protocol which ensures the security of the transmitted video data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Video data devices are connected to a common data bus to facilitate the communication of video data among the devices. Such devices include video signal receivers, video signal decoders, video signal recorders, video signal processing devices, video signal display devices, and video signal reproducing or playback devices. The data bus architecture has the advantage of being easy to implement, modify, and expand.
A video data bus system which conveys digital video data signals has the added advantage of substantially preserving the integrity of digital video signals transmitted on the bus. Such a system may transmit video data at great speeds without degrading the quality of the transmitted signal. Such a system is particularly useful for reproducing and disseminating copyrighted video data.
To preserve the value of copyrighted video data, a data bus communication system is needed that can selectively prevent certain devices connected to the bus from accessing certain video data but allowing such devices to access other video data. Also, a flexible communication protocol is needed to facilitate the secure and organized flow of video data through a video data bus system.